Arkayvizyon 4

Arkayvizyon 4 will be the fourth edition of the Chant Ka Arkayvizyon, the national selection event to determine the Arkaystian song in the Maia Song Contest. It will be hosted in Prekysta, in the Glomrau Arena. The contest will consist of 12 songs, and the winning song will represent Arkaystia in the Maia Song Contest 4. On the 16 of September 2016 it was announced by the Arkaystian Head of Delegation that the format of the contest would remain the same as the previous edition with 12 songs battling it out for a chance to represent the country. The decision came after deliberations from the Arkayvizyon committee during Maia Song Contest 3.

Format
The format of the contest remained the same as the previous year, the first time this has occurred. The points were given as follows: 12, 10, 8-1 points with the bottom 2 entries receiving 0.5 of a point where they failed to make top 10 within an international jury or internal televote ranking. The system remained in place after a competitive and suspenseful vote from Arkayvizyon 3.

Rumours
On the 21 September 2016 Arkaystian newspaper Ka Rumar! claimed in an article on their website that singer Liis Lemsalu was originally selected to participate in the Arkayvizyon 4 lineup but had to withdraw from the competition due to personal matters. Lemsalu later confirmed on her Twitter account that she did in fact pull out of the competition for personal reasons. She also thanked the Arkayvizyon committee for considering her in the first place and that she would hope to compete in the future.

Returning Artists
On the 23 September 2016, husband & wife duo Karmin announced via social media that they would be returning for Arkayvizyon 4 after a series of news reports claiming the pair would be back in the competition after finishing as runner-up to Dua Lipa in Arkayvizyon 3 with their song "Acapella". In an interview with Maiavision website Mimibloggs they stated that their entry would be "completely different to Acapella" and that they hoped that their new approach would "be able to take them one level higher" and get them to the Maia Song Contest. The early reveal of Karmin as an act forced the Arkayvizyon committee to push their own plans forward to ensure each act had fair exposure to the public.

Olga Seryabkina, a third of the group SEREBRO returns with her solo project Molly. Originally not selected to be part of the contest, Molly was added to the lineup after Helly Luv was forced to pull out.

Participants
Twelve acts are due to take part in the 4th Arkayvizyon contest. On the 23 September 2016 an ATV representative revealed that the contestants would be revealed in the coming days in a staggered fashion. The contestants are:

Karmin are a married pop duo from Prekysta, Tretsk. They finished second to Dua Lipa in the previous edition of the contest with their song "Acapella". They were given the opportunity by the song selection committee to return after the success of their song in the charts after the last contest. Karmin will be returning with their song "Didn't Know You" which they will sing from 2nd in the running order.

DARA, more formally known as Darina Yotova is a singer from Dragonae. After rising to fame on a reality tv show DARA was invited to take part in the contest with her modern hip-hop song "K'vo Ne Chu (Onto You)". When asked about her chances in an interview with Ka Rumar! magazine she stated that she believes she has the "song that will win". DARA will perform 5th in the running order.

Xenia Ghali is a DJ and vocalist from Olgogradov, Jamalova Islands. Ghali will be bringing her uptempo number "Under These Lights" to the contest which brings together EDM and house music. She will be accompanied by vocalist Ethan Thompson. Despite being only relatively new to the profession Ghali has made a name for herself in the biggest club venues in Olgogradov and aims to take music in a new direction. Ghali will perform 8th.

Gorgon City ft. Vaults is a collaboration of two groups for the contest. Gorgon City are a garage duo and Vaults are an electronica band, all residing in Prekysta. They have combined their backgrounds to enter the competition with their song "All Four Walls". This act will perform 4th on the night.



Edis is a singer-songwriter as well as actor from Arkaykiv. Edis will be bringing his ethnopop number "Dudak (Lip)" to the contest. In an interview with magazine Ka Rumar! he stated that his song "will stand out for all the right reasons" and that the song was "attention grabbing from the first listen". The confident performer will sing 9th in the contest.

Leona Lewis is a singer-songwriter Prekysta, Tretsk. Lewis is one of the most known artists in the line-up and will bring her song "Collide" to the contest where she showcases her powerful vocals. Despite being an accomplished artist, Lewis stated that "it is an honour to be invited to the contest". She will perform 6th.

Molly is a singer from Prekysta, Tretsk, more familiarly known as Olga Seryabkina of SEREBRO. After appearing in the previous contest Molly returns alone with her song "Я ПРОСТО ЛЮБЛЮ ТЕБЯ (I Just Love You)", a seductive and sensual song. The confident singer will sing 3rd.

Maty Noyes is a singer from Kaysta. The youngest singer in the competition rose to fame after providing the vocals on an Arkaystian #1 song. However she has decided to step out of the shadow and will be singing her song "In My Mind". When asked about the pressure the competition brings Noyes stated that she was "chilled out and enjoying the experience". Noyes will be the penultimate song.

Easy Does It is a band from Helgaheim, Jamalova Islands. The unsigned band won a web voting competition and earned their place in the competition with their song "Get" which brings rap back to the contest. Despite being relatively unheard of the band are optimistic about their chances. The band will perform 10th

Hurts is a synthpop duo formed in 2009 from Prekysta, Tretsk. They will be singing their deep and powerful song "Blind" which vocalist Hutchcraft stated in an interview with ATV that they hope the song "touches the soul of all the listeners". Hurts will perform 7th on the night.

Misha B is a singer-songwriter from Kaysta. She will be bringing R&B and soul to the contest with her song "Do You Think of Me". Bryan has stated that she is "extremely honoured to be part of the contest" and "cannot wait to get onto the stage and perform". She will close the show.

The Magician ft. Brayton Bowman is another collaboration for the contest. The Magician is a DJ from Olgogradov, Jamalova Islands. Bowman will provide the vocals for the their entry, the uptempo dance track "Shy". The track is fresh & modern with a bit of a twist. They will open the show.

Interval Act
On the 4 October 2016 the interval act for Arkayvizyon 4 was announced to be Alessandra Amoroso of Daléríqa who would be representing her country at the 4th edition of the Maia Song Contest. Amoroso would be singing her entry, "Vivere a colori", as part of her promotional tour throughout Maia. Organizers of the contest stated that including another country's act in the show was "mutually beneficial".

Results
VOTING IS NOW OPEN!

Playlist available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo3b2YUy8bQ&list=PLU8TCgxXD3lpkNye-iFeAm975RhrDST_1

Recap available here: https://vimeo.com/184728497

Removal of Helly Luv from lineup
On the 25 September 2016 it was announced by an Arkayvizyon committee representative that Helly Luv had been removed from the Arkayvizyon lineup. The news came just a few days after the lineup had been released and rehearsals had began to take shape. It has been revealed that during Luv's rehearsal performance that she unveiled a #FreeViridia flag which had not been discussed as part of the performance. Luv was asked to remove the flag from the performance but refused to cooperate with the organizing committee by offering them vague responses. A spokesperson for the committee stated that "Luv acted like a diva and is known for her activism. We expect that the artists would at least cooperate with us to run a coherent show. However Luv refused to put her beliefs to one side which left us with no option but to remove her from the lineup." Luv responded to the matter on her Instaglam account with a picture of her silhouette behind a Viridian flag.

Host of the show Courtney Stodden announced that the show would still have 12 acts. On the evening of the 25 September 2016 it was announced that Olga Seryabkina of SEREBRO would be the replacement for Luv. She will perform under her solo project name, Molly, with the song "Я ПРОСТО ЛЮБЛЮ ТЕБЯ (I Just Love You)."

The contest was criticized by several news outlets as well as the MBU for pulling a publicity stunt to give the contest more visibility. This was denied by the Arkayvizyon committee, who lashed out by stating "our national contest is very real, there is no veil of falseness".